Global Courant 2023-05-02 19:09:01
Earth Day is celebrated every April 22, with the aim of raising awareness about environmental deterioration and promoting actions that reduce the negative impact that the planet has had and the effects on ecosystems. To encourage these actions, different international organizations have recognized projects that carry out actions in favor of human development and nature, including several Guatemalans.
The Tuk Tuk Solar was one of the winning projects of the 2023 Green Awards, which each year identify, connect and amplify the most important social and environmental projects around the planet. In 2021, the G-22 Environmental Association launched a call to create a multidisciplinary team to convert an internal combustion tuk tuk into an electric vehicle with photovoltaic solar charging capacity, and they succeeded.
During Covid-19, a group of more than 50 people faced the project that has a climate change mitigation strategy for especially vulnerable municipalities in the country; and which premiered on September 14, 2021. In addition, it is part of one of the base solutions identified by the UNDP Laboratory Solutions Mapping office.
As well as the Tuk Tuk Solar, there are other sustainable Guatemalan projects that have been internationally recognized for their innovation and protection of the well-being of Mother Earth. Here are some of them.
Ekuom Entrepreneurship
Ekuom is a venture that is dedicated to making clothes with recyclable materials such as plastic bottles, cotton footwear and natural dyes. In 2022, he won second place in the FedEx Tank Experience contest, in partnership with Shark Tank Mexico, for Guatemala and Sony Channel.
From Guatemala to the World! #Ekuom is ready to recycle and bring the best products to #FedExTankExperience.
If you want to know more, don’t miss it September 30 at the end of the premiere episode of #SharkTankMx pic.twitter.com/oy2uAr06kW— #SharkTankMx (@SharkTankMex) September 24, 2022
One of the reasons why the Guatemalan company won the contest was for its business proposal that offers to make organic products. The prize consisted of US$10,000, which they would use to expand and renew their business model.
Bibi la Luz González, founder of the organization Come Mejor Wa’ik,
“Eat better Wa’ik” is a non-profit organization that has a variety of ways to reduce malnutrition with services, products and conferences at a multi-sectoral face-to-face and digital level.
When it started, it focused on low- to medium-income families in urban areas, then, in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, it created the “Improved Wa’ik Baskets” that included 65% fruits and vegetables, 20% grains, and 15% complementary foods. This in order to provide food that would help the health of the population.
In 2021, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants initiative launched a list called “50 Next” in which it made known young people under 35 who through their initiatives were generating change. Bibi la Luz González, founder of Come Mejor Wa’ik, was included in this list.
Ethnic Entrepreneurship
Étnica is a social enterprise that promotes responsible tourism through fair trade and community and local interaction, for those who seek community-based travel experiences and value the cultural and natural heritage that Guatemala has to offer. Therefore, in 2021, the venture was awarded by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for its innovation and social projection.
The competition recognized the ability of projects to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, such as the ability to apply their proposal on a larger scale. The award consisted of the support of specialists and support for advised mentoring programs.
Pantaleon Living Soil Project
In 2020, the Bonsucro Inspire Awards focused on projects that were helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, the Living Ground program won in the Planet category.
According to the awards page, Living Soil “promotes sustainable agricultural practices in sugarcane by identifying, isolating, reproducing, and applying harmless native microorganisms while implementing sound agricultural practices.”
Until 2020, the Pantaleon initiative had helped to reduce disease damage by 40 percent with the use of positive microorganisms and without the use of fungicides. In addition, it had reduced the presence of pests in the soil by 60 percent, eliminating the use of insecticides.
Impacto School, in Sololá, won the Zayed Sustainability Prize 2019
MAIA is an association led by indigenous women for indigenous youth, which empowers through holistic education, which integrates and manifests their talents in the academic, family and community environment.
The Impact School is part of this association, and has tried to redefine the word “school” in rural areas through an egalitarian approach in academics, culture and identity, socio-emotional intelligence and personal development.
This project participated in the “2019 Global Secondary Schools” category of the Zayed Sustainability Prize. Her proposal was one of the winners, as it has increased access to secondary education for indigenous girls and has encouraged sustainable agricultural practices and healthy food choices.
